Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1347) to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment and implementation of concussion management guidelines with respect to school-aged children, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of the bill, my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell). I just want to say he has worked tirelessly as an advocate for this bill, doing investigations and having a hearing that we held in the State of New Jersey. As you know, he was very aggressive in a very positive way to make sure this bill came to the floor.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1347, or the ConTACT Act, will help to reduce the number of concussion-related injuries nationally by improving a school's ability to guide return-to-play decisions and by raising awareness for parents, students, health professionals, and others of the consequences of multiple concussions. I want to thank Mr. Shimkus and Mr. Barton for their willingness to work on this bill with me and, of course, thank the sponsor of the bill, my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) who has worked so hard on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6012, sponsored by Representative Zack Space of Ohio, is designed to reduce the number of undiagnosed seniors with diabetes by evaluating more seniors sooner through the HHS diabetes screening benefit. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1362) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of permanent national surveillance systems for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological diseases and disorders, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2781) to change references in Federal law to mental retardation to references to an intellectual disability, and to change references to a mentally retarded individual to references to an individual with an intellectual disability.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6130. The legislation expands the authority of the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to allow it to ban corporate executives from doing business with Medicare if their companies were convicted of fraud. It also gives the inspector general the ability to exclude parent companies that may be committing fraud through shell companies. This important bill will close two loopholes in current law so that criminal offenders who defraud our Nation's seniors will have to pay for their crimes. Mr. Speaker, for every dollar put into the pockets of criminals, a dollar is taken out of the system to provide much-needed care to millions of Medicare patients, including two of our Nation's most vulnerable populations--seniors and the disabled. This morning, my subcommittee held a hearing on Medicare fraud in which we talked about the many important provisions of the new health care law that will assist CMS, the OIG, and the Justice Department in identifying abusive suppliers and fraudulent billing practices. In that hearing, we heard from the inspector general about how this bill will help fight fraud by closing two remaining gaps. The first gap allows an executive who has left the company being charged with fraud by the time of conviction to continue to participate in Federal health programs. This shortfall willingly permits these criminals to move from one company to another and continue to steal from Medicare seniors and taxpayers. H.R. 6130 would give the OIG the authority to ban these executives from doing business with Medicare. The second gap allows companies that engage in fraud who have set up shell companies to insulate themselves from liability and get off scot- free. Once these shell organizations dissolve, there is no real penalty to the parent company. So H.R. 6130 would give the OIG the authority to ban these parent companies from doing business with Medicare. Mr. Speaker, all forms of fraud undermine the integrity of our public health system, and I applaud my colleagues from the Ways and Means Committee--particularly Mr. Stark--for working on this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark), the Health Subcommittee chair on the Ways and Means Committee, control the remainder of the time on the majority side.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6130) to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to expand the permissive exclusion from participation in Federal health care programs to individuals and entities affiliated with sanctioned entities, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3199, the Emergency Medic Transition Act of 2010. H.R. 3199 will help military medics transition to work as civilian emergency medic technicians. This bill authorizes grants for States that have a shortage of emergency medic technicians to create programs to train returning veterans with emergency medical training that they become State-certified EMTs. The goal of this legislation is twofold: to help vets with medical training transition back into civilian life and to shore up our civilian emergency response capabilities, particularly in States with a demonstrated need for these services. Programs like the ones authorized by this legislation may be helpful for veterans with other health care experience. That's why this legislation also requires the GAO to conduct a study to understand the barriers experienced by returning vets with medic experience from becoming civilian health care professionals. GAO will make recommendations to Congress whether it makes sense to expand this program to other health care professions. I would like to thank in particular of course Representative Harman and Representative Sarbanes, both from our Energy and Commerce Committee, for their dedication to and leadership on this important issue. I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the bill's sponsor, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman), such time as she may consume.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the other person who did a lot of work on their legislation, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from South Dakota, Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3199) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants to State emergency medical service departments to provide for the expedited training and licensing of veterans with prior medical training, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3470) to authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates of infant mortality, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2923, the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2010. H.R. 2923 is designed to respond to problems that the Drug Enforcement Agency has identified in the implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2006. That 2006 law required retail sellers of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to file a self- certification attesting that they have trained their personnel about the law and its requirements. According to the DEA, thousands of sellers have not yet self-certified. This legislation is designed to improve compliance with the 2006 law, and it will provide the DEA with enforcement tools, like civil fines. I want to commend Representative Gordon as well as Senator Feinstein for their leadership on this legislation. I also want to thank Ranking Members Shimkus and Barton for working with us in moving this bill forward so quickly. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and ask that the bill pass.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1745) to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability protections for volunteer practitioners at health centers under section 330 of such Act, as amended.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.